May egg production up 3%

WASHINGTON – Egg production climbed 3 percent in May to 8.02 billion, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Production included 6.92 billion table eggs and 1.10 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.02 billion were broiler-type and 79 million were egg-type, NASS reported. The total number of layers during May averaged 345 million eggs, up 1 percent from May 2012. May egg production per 100 layers gained 1 percent to 2,327 eggs.

All layers on June 1, 2013, totaled 346 million, up 2 percent from a year ago. The total consisted of 289 million layers producing table or market type eggs, 53.5 million layers producing broiler-type hatching eggs and 3.15 million layers producing egg-type hatching eggs. Rate of lay per day climbed 1 percent to an average 75.2 eggs per 100 layers, according to NASS.